


Family

by KissedByAShadow



Category: Shadowhunters (TV), Shadowhunters (TV) RPF, The Shadowhunter Chronicles - All Media Types
Genre: Alec Lightwood & Maia Roberts Friendship, Alec Lightwood Deserves Nice Things, Alec Lightwood-centric, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Birthday, Bittersweet, Bittersweet Ending, Bonding, Bonds, Dark Magnus Bane, Edom (Shadowhunter Chronicles), Edom Angst (Shadowhunter Chronicles), Family, Friendship, Husbands, Light Angst, Loss, Love, M/M, POV Alec Lightwood, Simon Lewis & Alec Lightwood Friendship, Team as Family, Trust, relationships
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-01
Updated: 2019-05-01
Packaged: 2020-02-10 20:11:36
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,267
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18667543
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KissedByAShadow/pseuds/KissedByAShadow
Summary: He looks at his family, now. At the grins on his parents’ faces. At Izzy and Jace dancing away. At Clary and Simon watching them half the time, and bickering about something the other half, wearing huge smiles regardless. At Maia, who’s still staring at him worriedly, awaiting his response. And he’s filled with a sense of reassurance, because he knows that, no matter what happens, he’ll always have his family. He’ll always have this.“Yeah,” He tells her, nodding slightly, the corners of his lips tugging up into a small smile.“Yeah, I’m okay.”-Or, Magnus never made it back from Edom. Years later, Alec reminisces.





	Family

**Author's Note:**

> I feel like I should apologize for this beforehand, despite the fact that it isn't very angsty, per se. It's more like implied angst, or angst that hasn't really been delved into. 
> 
> Still, I'm sorry. Especially since this is popping up in the middle of the all wedding jitters.

He’s turning forty-five today.

It’s not old – at least, he doesn’t _feel_ old. He doesn’t feel any different, really. He’d woken up today morning, completely normal, golden bedsheets sprawled over him, sunshine streaming in through the windows, and all had been serene, just like it always was.

Until Izzy and Jace had barged into the bedroom, informing him that it was his birthday, and giving him a highly detailed list of what was on the agenda for the day. Strippers had been mentioned, until Alec had shut Jace down with a stern glare and a firm “No.”

And now here they are, approximately twelve hours later, in the middle of the Hunter’s Moon, celebrating the birthday party he never intended to happen, but is enjoying nonetheless. Maia’s behind the counter, shooting his siblings – who are off in a corner of the bar, drunk out of their minds and dancing themselves senseless – an amused grin every few seconds, a condescending but entertained expression decorating her face.

His mother’s seated across the table from Luke a few feet away, and the two of them have beaming grins adorning their faces that outshine the shimmering wedding rings on their fingers. They’d gotten married a few years ago, and Alec’s never been prouder of his mother. Of course, it makes Clary his sister, but that was inevitable, given the fact that Jace was bound to marry her eventually. He did, too, and Alec’s surprisingly okay with the fiery redhead being a part of his family. He’s come to care about her a lot more than he’d expected, over the past couple of years.

Her, and her best friend, Simon Lewis, yet another surprising addition to his family. Simon’s his brother, before anything else, and not just because he's married to Izzy. He’s come to love the daylighter, even if that’s something he’s never going to admit out loud, but he knows Simon acknowledges and reciprocates the sentiment.

Or, at least, he hopes so. He’s played video games with him, and watched all the Star Wars movies at least three times, and he hopes that’s enough.

The only person who isn’t here tonight is Underhill. Alec had hoped he would make it, but his friend had made some plans with his boyfriend, Adrian, and Alec wasn’t about to ruin those. They’d been planning a getaway for so long, it was only fair they eventually got the break they deserved. Being the Head of Security wasn’t easy, if the stressed lines that seemed to have made permanent residence on Underhill’s forehead were anything to go by.

There’s another person missing tonight, and as much as Alec doesn’t want to think of him, in the end, he can’t help it.

Magnus.

The thought of his husband sends a pang through his chest, and he squeezes his eyes shut. The ring on his finger seems more prominent than ever at the moment, and it takes Alec everything he has in him to not pull it off his finger and stare wistfully at the three little words engraved on the ring, as he’s done millions of times before.

_Aku cinta kamu._

The same words Magnus had told him all those years ago, when they’d hung that lock up. _A symbol of their eternal love_ , Alec recalls fondly. He twists the ring – the action is almost an unconscious one at this point – and lets a smile come across his face. It’s a nostalgic one, bittersweet, but it’s better than crying, something he has his whole life left to do.

They hadn’t managed to get Magnus back from Edom. They’d tried. Alec had thought they’d succeeded, in fact, when they managed to find a way in, but it was with an indescribable amount of horror that he'd realized the truth when they'd infiltrated Asmodeus’s castle.

Magnus was too far gone.

He should have known that his mother had been right, when she’d told him months before he found a way to get Magnus back, that he was gone for good. When he’d found his husband – as unofficial as the wedding had been – he’d expected to see Magnus, the warlock, the man he’d fallen in love with.

He hadn’t expected to see the King of Hell.

Asmodeus was there, too, of course, and it had killed Alec to see the sight, to witness Magnus living his worst nightmare, as if it was something he’d wanted all along. Magnus hadn’t hurt him when he saw him, though, contrary to what Asmodeus had constantly hissed at his side.

No, Magnus had simply smiled at him, before nodding grimly and acknowledging him with a simple “Alexander.” And Alec had been filled with relief like never before, then, but that relief was torn away almost immediately, when Magnus raised his hand, and sent them right back to New York with a flick of his wrist.

He’s never tried to go back.

It’s been over twenty years since then, but Alec can’t bring himself to regret his decision. The image of Magnus, with burning red magic and pitch black, hollow eyes, had haunted him for years, but, in some strange way, he’s found peace with his choice.

There’s still the nights he cries himself to sleep, of course, buried in the sheets that Catarina had enchanted to always smell like Magnus, a gift he’ll be forever grateful for. He lives in their loft now, because, as much as it kills him to do so, it’ll always be home.

“Alec?” A voice says suddenly, snapping him out of his reverie. He blinks dazedly, shaking his head before drifting back to reality, only to find a hand being waved in front of his face. Maia’s standing in front of him, her head tilted to one side as she regards him with a curious expression.

“Yeah?” He asks, albeit a bit shakily.

She chuckles lightly, the sound doubtful. 

“You okay?” She questions softly, and Alec thinks he sees a sort of understanding in her eyes. She does know about loss, after all. When Jordan had died, Maia had been strong for the longest time, never admitting to weakness, never letting her façade fade away.

But when she’d stumbled into his office one night, her gaze blank and her expression empty, something in her seemed broken. Alec hadn’t been that close with her then, but he couldn’t stop himself from helping her. He’d asked her to come that night to discuss a quarrel that had occurred between a few werewolves earlier that day, but as he’d watched her shoulders slump heavier and her stance grow more exhausted by the second, he’d wrapped a blanket around her and sat by her on the couch instead. Despite her protests and her murmured ‘I’m fine’s, she’d opened up eventually, sobbing into his shoulder until she’d fallen asleep.

He’d held her through all of it, and when she’d woken up the next morning, embarrassed beyond belief, he’d reminded her that her family would always be there for her, and that he was a part of that, too.

He looks at his family, now. At the grins on his parents’ faces. At Izzy and Jace dancing away. At Clary and Simon watching them half the time, and bickering about something the other half, wearing huge smiles regardless. At Maia, who’s still staring at him worriedly, awaiting his response. And he’s filled with a sense of reassurance, because he knows that, no matter what happens, he’ll always have his family. He’ll always have this.

“Yeah,” He tells her, nodding slightly, the corners of his lips tugging up into a small smile.

“Yeah, I’m okay.”

 

**Author's Note:**

> If y'all want me to write an alternate version of this where Magnus is completely fine, I'd be more than glad to do so. I'd also be okay with writing a version where pretty much the same thing is happening, but it's after the wedding, not twenty or so years from now. 
> 
> Come yell with me about the wedding on twitter: [ @shadowhunt_101](https://twitter.com/shadowhunt_101)
> 
> Thanks for reading!
> 
> Love,  
> Dana.
> 
> P.S. THEY'RE GETTING MARRIED. I REPEAT: TALL, DARK, AND HANDSOME IS MARRYING MIKE FROM GLEE.


End file.
